Sharett Presents New Four-party Coalition Cabinet to Parliament

January 26, 1954

JERUSALEM (Jan. 25)

Premier Moshe Sharett presented his new, four-party, sixteen-man Cabinet to Parliament tonight and asked for its confirmation. Parliament is expected to provide this confirmation tomorrow, after debate, without any difficulty since the parties represented in the coalition command 80 of the 120 votes in the Knesset.

The Cabinet includes nine members of Mr. Sharett’s Mapai Party, four General Zionists and two Labor Mizrachi. The Ministry of Justice is reserved for a representative of the Progressive Party which was a member of the former coalition but has not yet agreed to join the new government.

The only new figure in the Cabinet is Zalman Aranne, Mapai, who is Minister without Portfolio. Pinhas Lavon has formally assumed the Ministry of Defense post formerly held by David Ben Gurion and Mr. Sharett combines the Premiership with the Foreign Ministry.

In presenting the first government in Israel’s short span in which Mr. Ben Gurion was not a member, Premier Sharett paid tribute to his predecessor.

GOVERNMENT WILL NOT OFFER NEW PROGRAM

The new Government does not propose a new program, Mr. Sharett said, since it regards itself as a continuation of the former administration. He expressed regret that the Progressive Party had not entered the reconstructed coalition and said all parties to the coalition hope the Progressives will decide to join the new cabinet. He said the Government did not rest content with the support of those backing it but appealed to all groups outside the coalition to aid it in executing the heavy tasks that lie ahead.

The new Government, Premier Sharett continued, extended the hand of brotherhood to the Jewish people throughout the world, primarily to the Zionist movement and to all organizations and institutions assisting Israel in its development. It greeted all Jews concerned over the welfare of Israel and it called on those elements of the Jewish people who are today condemned to isolation to maintain their devotion to Zion.

“The Government dedicates itself to hard work,” Mr. Sharett declared. “It will strive untiringly to advance Israel materially as well as spiritually, to enhance its international position, to enable it to fulfill its mission in Jewish history, to make it the agent of peace and progress in the Middle East and the world beyond.”